A new journey begins.... Omnisign 4000 1390 CO2 laser cutter

[Brumby]

With my little K40 still sitting in the corner, ageing quietly, our dear Beanflying has successfully exercised his enabling powers ... ... again.   

Just over a week ago, I get a message with a link to an eBay item.  It shows a commercially available laser machine with a work area that perfectly fits my aspirations.  It also includes an industrial chiller, rotary engraving table, motorised "Z" axis, air pump and axial exhaust fan with ducting.  Just add water, as they say.

It has one other point of note .... fire damage.  eBay auction: #175394717874


Tonight, I won it - at just one bid increment over the starting price.


Now I have to work out how to get a 1.9m x 1.6m x 1.1m unit weighing around 400kg (according to the distributor's spec sheet) down one driveway and up another .... 300km away.

Then I can start working on the "why it isn't working properly".


Bean, take a bow.   

(Mind you, he didn't have to try very hard  )

[beanflying]

 

I suspect this has more mass than all my prior EEVBlog enables combined - proud moment 

[Brumby]

Hmm ... let me see ....  this, then that - one of those and ... ...

Yep easily top of the list.  (Not hard when the main box comes in at 400kg ... and then there are the accessories).  Wins out on $ value as well ... by a long chalk!

That said, the cost of the machine, accessories and delivery was still around $500 less than what I put in as my max bid for just the auction.  So I can honestly say, that part was great.


Logistics organised.  Picking up today - delivering tomorrow.

Would have cost me around $500 doing it myself with a vehicle that had a tailgate loader a little smaller than it really needed to be, including wrestling it at both ends, as well as doing 300km driving there and 300km driving back.  Got it onto a backload with an experienced business on a quite capable truck delivered to my driveway for $650.  For the sake of $150 - I'm more than happy to sit here.  (Besides, I'm still getting over a cold.)


My only reservation is not having seen the item beforehand.  It has been sold as "For parts, not working" - but that seems to be because the seller can't be bothered trying to fix it any further after the fire.  I believe things were basically operational, but just not reliable - particularly at speed.  Now I have the added risk of transport ... so I am anxiously awaiting the chance to see what I bought.

If I can sort it out, it will be a brilliant purchase.

[Brumby]

Oh shit.  Now I have to make room in my garage.   

[Brumby]

SWMBO has been told I got another laser and has been given hints as to its size (like: "It won't fit into her station wagon").  She has NO idea of the cost, but I did say it was coming on a truck.   

I might be sleeping out in the garage with it tomorrow night.

[beanflying]

They tell me Lasers can be used for engraving Glasses and making decorations for Weddings if you need another shovel and a longer ladder to get out of the hole

[Brumby]

That is something that has not escaped me.

But will the machine - and I for that matter - be up to the task in time?

[Brumby]

My hopes for safe transit went up last night.  I had given some instructions (that were really just common sense), but when there was an apparent contradiction, I received a phone call to clarify.  This was quickly sorted.  The carrier also confirmed the list of items I gave him, so I should get everything.

By-the-by, I looked at the distributor's website and checked the cost of the motorised Z axis and rotary table options.  Brand new, these cost more than I paid for the whole machine.  Add $95 and shipping is covered.  If I get this beast fully operational, I will have scored myself quite a bargain.


I've also worked out what I will do with the K40...

My youngest son was asking about some project ideas he had for laser work since he knew I had a laser machine.  I will give it to him, with a caveat about the age of the tube (it's nearly 3 years since manufacture).  We have already had a conversation about using K40 whisperer, so that will have got him thinking in the right direction to start off.


Anyway, time for breakfast ... and then to find the garage.

[Brumby]

Been steadily plodding today as that is all I could manage.  Fortunately I have a visitor who was willing to help.  Not two minutes after the space was cleared in the garage, the carrier called!  Oh great, I still have to get the caravan out of the way ... and pack away all the stuff that was "disturbed" in the process.

He apologised for being late, but said he would come over to drop it off later if that was OK.  I said he could come tomorrow, which he agreed to, then realised he had something in the morning - so would afternoon be ok?  I was more than happy to say "Yes".

This gives me a better chance to get things properly ready without having to break my back.


I did work out one thing, though .... I need a bigger garage.   

[Brumby]

Caravan out of the way.  Driveway just needs a sweep and I'm ready to take delivery.

[Brumby]

It's here ...



All the pieces manifested are present.  Quick visual on condition: no surprises.

And it fits!!   

The pool table that took up so much space (and needed repairs) has been replaced by a laser machine ... which takes up more space ... and ... needs ... repairs ... ... ... 

Found a home for the pool table (sold) and found some things to ditch.  Now comes the fun of making everything that needs to go back in the garage, fit.  I can see that I might will need to ditch some more stuff........

[beanflying]

Big aint it  Your shed still has more space than mine even with the new toy 

With the bed to clean it espresso machine cleaner works well for me to get rid of the burnt and baked on creosote residue that the Ply cutting likely left behind. Mine now it is clean gets kept for paper and card and I generally use the pin bed which is much easier to keep clean. Chase up Cafetto should be around $20/kg as a powder and use it with boiling/hot water. I actually wonder if this might be what caught fire rather than the material getting cut?

EDIT Changed my mind 98% sure this is where the fire started unless the photo is wrong. Looks like a lot of the Honeycomb is totally blocked and the bed under it is filthy Even if you want a Honeycomb bed likely scrap this one.

[Brumby]

Your theory as to the fire being from ignition of residues is one I hold myself.  There is clearly a hot spot - which is above the rear of the work area.



There is a lot of cleaning one could do, including powder beneath the laser tube area and circular acrylic dumps underneath the table.

One issue declared was some Y axis motion problems - and they had done some "work".  Pictured in the listing was the Y axis drive assembly with a note that the grub screws would need to be re-tapped.  Fair enough, I thought, I have a tap and die set.  Got to look at it today and the pulley is press fitted to the shaft - but the "work" done obviously involved a hammer to try and drive the shaft.  This simply mushroomed the ends (both ends were tried) - so now I need to bring those down to size, so I can use my shop press to do the job properly.

Checked the date on the tube - it was manufactured in 2016, so it has some years on it.  Might still be useful for some less demanding work, but the tube was always going to be a question mark.

Edit: Updated photo

[Brumby]

Disassembled the drive pulley with the right tools.  So easy.

I think I may have found something I can fix which will help with movement......